In the first 30 days since his election, Governor-elect Dan Malloy has been particularly busy - bouncing around the country in an effort to gain as much knowledge as possible before becoming governor.

He traveled to Colorado to learn from other governors about the tricks of transitions, budgets, and being the state's top elected official. He has also traveled twice to Washington, D.C. - meeting with the state's Congressional delegation, Obama administration officials, and then again with governors both incoming and experienced.

On Monday, Malloy was finally back in Hartford for his first formal meeting with his transition team. His chief of staff and co-transition director, Tim Bannon, remarked that he had not seen the governor-elect much lately.

Malloy delivered a pep talk to 45 professionals in the room - including 25 who were at an extended table with him and another 20 who were seated in folding chairs along the wall in a large function room at the state Capitol.

Noting that the state's budget deficit is projected at about $3.5 billion in the next fiscal year, Malloy said the daunting challenges ahead could make some citizens to view things negatively and become depressed. But Malloy had a different message.

"The people of Connecticut should now have - and will in the future have - reason to be hopeful,'' Malloy told the crowd. "Connecticut's best days are ahead of it - not behind it - and you're part of the initial team to put that vision together.''

He thanked his steering committee and the co-chairs of 12 different working groups that will focus on issues ranging from agriculture and education to housing and transportation. The co-chairs of the working groups include some well-known advocates who come to the Capitol to push their cause. The human services working group will be overseen by Ron Cretaro and Terry Edelstein, two of the best-known advocates among Connecticut's non-profit providers, and Toni Fatone, who stepped down last year as the leader of the state's for-profit nursing homes.

Former gubernatorial candidate and former state legislator Juan Figueroa is co-chairing the healthcare group, while former Rep. Jessie Stratton co-chairs the environment group. The room was filled with hard-core Democrats, including some who have run for elective office and some who will be running in the future. Two of those sitting at the table with Malloy - Hartford Mayor Pedro Segarra and Democrat Shawn Wooden - are both running right now in the mayoral race.

The groups have been asked to generate ideas that can be implemented without spending any more money - at a time when the state is deep in the red.

"There's not an unexperienced individual in the room,'' Malloy told reporters after the meeting, which was open to the press. "The folks from the private sector, increasingly over the years, have become used to a larger or greater level of transparency and openness. Let's be honest. That's what the United States' relationship with the corporate world has become. Transparency is the word. ... Particularly on the personnel side, for privacy purposes and the ability to attract strong candidates, we have to maintain some level of privacy.''

While Democrats clearly dominated the room, one of the most obvious Republicans was Ross Garber, the former legal counsel during the 2004 impeachment hearings for the office of then-Gov. John G. Rowland. Garber, a respected attorney who lost in a primary this year for attorney general, was added to Malloy's personnel committee after the initial members were named.

On his Facebook page and in an interview, longtime Democratic activist Jon Pelto raised questions about Garber and Gary O'Connor, a longtime Waterbury attorney. Like many of Rowland's supporters in Waterbury, O'Connor has been registered as a Democrat.

"Why are two of Rowland's closest advisers and confidants added to Malloy's transition team today?'' Pelto asked. "I don't get it. There are extraordinary Democrats who are left off while key positions are filled with people whose track record - when it comes to "good government" - are beyond repair. I want Dan to be the best governor we've ever had - I know he can be - but what the heck is going on?''

Pelto told Capitol Watch that he was dumbfounded by Malloy's moves.

"Of all the people in the state of Connecticut, it strikes me as bizarre,'' Pelto said. He was surprised that O'Connor was chosen as the co-chairman of the environment working group with former state Rep. Jessie Stratton, whom Pelto described as "as good as anyone in the state on the environment.''

Like Malloy, O'Connor graduated from Boston College and its law school.

Colleen Flanagan, a transition spokeswoman for Malloy, said the transition team was never intended to be for Democrats only, adding that team member Greg Butler had also been named to the transition team of Republican Tom Foley when the election was still not officially decided.

Roy Occhiogrosso, another spokesman for Malloy, said that Pelto - a former state legislator and activist who has been involved in multiple campaigns through the years - and his comments are both "irrelevant.''

"No one cares what Jonathan Pelto thinks,'' Occhiogrosso said Monday night. "He posts some comment on Facebook. Who cares? If some guy in the Midwest posts something about the Malloy transition team on Facebook, is that newsworthy? The fact that he's reduced to making comments on his Facebook page'' proves his status in the Democratic Party.

"These are people who the governor-elect is proud to serve on his transition team. That they are Republicans is beside the point,'' Occhiogrosso continued. "Connecticut is in deep trouble, and the governor-elect has made it clear that the old way of doing things isn't going to work. To reach across the aisle is simply him following through on his campaign promise. ... What Dan said during the campaign is he wants to govern in a way that will move the state forward as quickly as possible. The best way to do that is to form a transition team with the best and brightest people. If he didn't, he'd be criticized for picking all Democrats.''

After speaking to the transition team and then to reporters Monday, Malloy headed across town to the Hartford Hilton hotel to speak with the Democratic caucus of state House of Representatives. Caucus members gave him a standing ovation.

In between his travels, Malloy has appointed three of the most important members of the incoming administration: Bannon, budget director-designate Ben Barnes, and Department of Children and Families commissioner-designate Joette Katz.

Malloy's travel pace is expected to slow down between now and Jan. 5, when he takes office. There are no distant trips on his schedule at the moment. But that could always change.

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Susan Bysiewicz brother in law, Republican,& former John Rowland defense attorney Ross Garber, named to the Malloy transition team. Garber is the lawyer that the CT GOP hired to investigate the alleged Election Fraud. OH MY I JUST THREW UP IN MY MOUTH!!!